November, December

November was weird. As in the weather. The trees still had leaves, the grass was still green, and yes, it was still muddy. The sunsets were reminiscent of summer, but earlier in the day. By November all of the goat breedings were confirmed, Momma cow and Baby cow (who we named Annabelle and Rex but never call them that) stopped hollering and adjusted to life in the mucky pasture and we spent Black Friday (again!) buying stone to fill holes in the driveway. 

Ivy's short summer haircut grew out, her toe-tuft moccasin feet returned as did her lovely but high maintenance tail plumes. Ironically she grew a mohawk that somehow reflects her personality quite accurately.

The fall foliage and color were short lived but we managed to sneak a few walks in before the leaves fell. 

We also managed to sneak away to the warmth of San Antonio for a few days for a conference just after Thanksgiving. The unseasonably warm days were a nice break from the gray skies at home and hopefully will give us a burst of energy as we're trapped at the farm for the next 6 months while inundated with baby goats. 

We managed a drive out to the country, 'Hill Country' specifically and visited some national preserves and saw ranch after ranch on sprawling hills full of cattle and goats. 

And we took lots of pictures of fenceposts. Because we don'r have enough fenceposts at home. But these had cacti. And potential for rattlesnakes.

We also visited the botanical gardens and it happened to be 'dog day' which made us grateful to also be in a hotel room (and bed) devoid of pups for a couple days. 

And as the month flew by we found ourselves in the usual rush to make the house spirited for the holidays. Ivy is a big fan of all things trees, sticks, etc so we are on edge until January when it can be taken down and turned into goat food. 

When I saw these longhorn ornaments I couldn't resist adding them to the tree this year although about 50% of the people in my life told me they were 'dark' and I had a 'death tree'. Meh, I like them. 

We rang in the New Year with the usual crowd complete with a tray of fresh jowl bacon (thank you pigs) and tomato ginger jam. I'm not sure if this is a tradition meant to bring luck or health but it makes all in attendance quite happy!

The pups are not equipped for late night parties and spent all of January 1st sleeping in one spot or another. Which is a bit surprising since Ivy helped herself to some unguarded cake at about 2am. Lets be honest, we hardly left the couch either...

While we were doing our holiday cleaning and organizing we ran across a box of old photos and located this gem from a New Years formal from what we think was 1999-2000. We look happy, right? And free from wrinkles, gray hair, stress from farming, life, animals, homeownership, stress from work, life, dogs, life...but let's face it, those clothes are not cut out for days in the barn. And we just aren't fans of dressing up. So in 2019 we will once again trade gowns and ties for carhartts and boots and our goals and resolutions center around productivity, machinery and food. And we wouldn't trade it. Happy Holidays and a Prosperous 2019!

September, October

September brought a few breaks in the rain and we tried to make the most of out time. Clean pens, mowed lawns and fencerows, hosted a big shindig or two. The goats appreciate their 'clean sheets' but the rain and mud quickly returned and so did the manure.

Ivy is apparently a fan of fall photos. When she wasn't trying to eat the pumpkins and mums, she was content to sit next to them, if only for a minute. 

"If you build it, they will come."

So we built this little structure in the front pasture which was not seeing much use the past few years. Most people would just mow it, but not us! We think its 'easier' just to bring in something else to eat it for us. So after lots of research and planning we found these two for sale just down the road. 

Momma is a 6 year old yellow Scottish Highland cow, re-bred to calf in May. The baby dun steer was born in May as well. So with any luck, that 'empty' pasture will provide us with plenty of low-fat heritage breed beef in about a year. She didn't look so big or intimidating...until we got her in the trailer!

#notagoat

We managed to squeeze in a late-season goat show and had fun visiting with friends while winning a ribbon or two. And there were cheese curds, which goes without saying.

We became Amish for a day. Or rather a night. To celebrate Halloween in style.

And we, along with the animals soaked up the blue skies and green grass as much as we could as the days started getting shorter. The goats, in response, entered breeding season and the cycle of tail wagging, screaming, urine-spraying and stink started once again. this year will see 15 goats (hopefully and safely) deliver kids starting in February with a big cluster at the end of the month. Looking forward to another year of 0-100 real quick.

August

In July it started raining. In August it continued raining. We watched our lovely alfalfa fields turn into a lush green carpet, the goats salivated at the fenceline and the weather did not allow for timely hay production. So we watched it grow. And watched the mud. And thought about baling. Instead we got a kitten! And ate a lot.

No really, we got a kitten, because we didn't have enough barn cats (this makes 7) but this one is pretty exceptional. Meet Stella.

August was also fair time so we indulged in cheese curds, mmmmm..... And our less than perfect weather hay came in second place this year. I did decide to enter the silliest category I could find, which was an egg painting / decorating contest and we won! There's hope for a fallback career I guess.

We decided that since the garden was bursting with food and the freezers were practically overflowing we would 'live off the land' and have a house / pantry clean out for the month of August. We did still purchase bread, also wine but not much else. There's nothing better than 100% farm to table meals - this IS why we do what we do. Here are a few samples.

Tomatoes were NOT in short supply this year. we roasted, canned and canned some more. I mostly prefer eating a bowl of them with balsamic vinegar and salt.

Grilled then roasted herb stuffed chicken. Thank you chickens...

Tofu veggie stuffed lettuce wraps. No we don't grow soy but it was already in the fridge come August 1st. 

Fried italian sage leaves.

Margarita pizza with einkorn crust and goats milk mozzerella.

Pork ramen with soft boiled eggs. Thanks again chickens...and pigs...

Blistered lombardo and shishito peppers with sea salt and lime. Almost every night. A summer staple. For the first time ever we had more peppers than tomatoes, they stayed prolific until the first frost when I rushed out to pick about 3- 5 gallon buckets full. Then I canned some more. 

Grilled zucchini, uncured bacon and cherry tomatoes.

Homemade semolina pasta with tomatoes basil and garlic, found the olives in the pantry too.

One of my new favorites-  turkish eggs, served on whipped heated greek yogurt with red chili, cilantro and fingerlimes. 

Very tart blackberries we managed to steal from the fencerow before the birds got to them.

Goat burgers with bacon and chevre stuffed jalapeno poppers. 

And my favorites 'throw every thing on a pan and roast it' on this day it was baby potatoes, green beans, sweet corn and tomatoes drizzled with honey.

And zucchini blossoms, coated with a farina beer batter and fried in sunflower oil. The season is short but they are so, so good. Another example of staggered planting gone wrong, the second crop produced more quickly than the first and we were inundated!

June, July

June began with a new collection of hay wagons. The school year ended for Rog and each night when I returned home from work a new wagon was in the driveway. Some people collect cars, some shoes, some artwork and apparently, some prefer haywagons. Notice how they are lovingly lined up to catch the sun. Ivy treats them like hurdles.

We finally completed the new pergola with 'party lights' but as usual we didn't do much in the way of sitting.

We decided the chickens needed new digs. We had previously converted a horse stall into a coop in one of the big barns but they outgrew their welcome. Chickens stink, no matter how much or how little we clean up after them, they stink and produce a lot of dust. The previous setup didn't offer too much in the way of outdoor space either so we moved them across the yard into a new coop. Later in the year we'd add electric net fencing and a movable pasture, eventually we hope to let them 'work' the manure pile for us which will make the birds quite happy as well!

This years early summer heat prompted us to buy Ivy her very own pool. She looks positively uncoordinated and ridiculous swimming 'for real' but she enjoys it immensely so we thought this would be another way to tire her out. Having a long-haired weimaraner is quite different than our previous traditional weim, Ivy is quite intolerant of the heat and the sun and hopped right in the pool every chance she got. 

Soon we grew jealous and bought a pool of our own. At just the right angle it looks quite luxurious...and at just the right angle we can both fit in it. Didn't stop me from buying a little raft or from having a pool party...

The summer heat brought an early harvest. The strawberries were perfect and plentiful despite being overgrown with weeds. Unfortunately the dogs thought so too. Little bites at the bottom and big bites at the top, they all learned to play. It was funny at first but then they learned to pick snap peas, tomatoes, asparagus and raspberries. 

As the baby goats were weaned, we brought on a new batch of milk drinkers. Again we remembered how much harder 3 pigs are than 2. I know,  3 pigs is not a lot but 3 pigs worth of pig shit in a confined space can be a bit much. They're cute for such a short time then they become crazed foaming eating machines.

Added a new cheese to my repertoire this summer, Norwegian gjetost. It was made purely from whey left over from ricotta and was unlike any cheese we've ever tasted. It was quite labor intensive, lots of stirring, waiting, reducing, thickening to end up with an end result that looked much like a bowl of odd caramel. It was caramel on first smell and on first taste but quickly morphed into a very salty aged cheddar. Not bad, not good, just different but worth another attempt. It is traditionally eaten with brown bread (not to be found in Brighton township) and raspberry jam. We dishonored it with melba toast but will be more prepared next time!

May

May is the month of eagerness. Eager to dive in to the first cutting of hay, but the ground is still too wet. Eager to plant the garden in between the raindrops. Eager to set aside indoor projects in favor of outdoor projects. Eager to say goodbye to our customary Ohio pallor and get the first bit of pink on our cheeks.

For the horses it means eagerness to shed out the remainder of their winter coats. This year like many in recent history, spring was essentially non-existent and we went straight to hot and humid. Rain needs the most help getting rid of her winter fluff and the suddenly hot weather meant many many cool down hose-offs.

May meant the return of the starlings. We really hate those little shits. They built a nest like this in our grill in one day. Three times. We eventually had to cover all the openings with chicken wire. They nest in the barn eaves in such great numbers we constantly find eggs on the ground, immature chicks and the cats have a field day.

A new batch of bees was successfully installed and we looked forward to alfalfa honey in the coming fall. 

The May storms brought an abundance of rainbows this year. Way more than normal, it was actually borderline creepy. We've had a few doubles on occasion but I rarely have my phone in my pocket - made it back outside in time for this one! No gold was anywhere to be found in that barn, just a bunch of goats...

Every spring we sort through all of our scrap wood from the winter projects and build a few things, usually for the garden. This year I thought an herb planting table would be nice, since for some reason its such a chore to walk to the garden when I'm making dinner. We thought a nice spot off the end of the deck would be convenient for daily access. Ivy thought so too. Apparently she is most fond of thyme. She ex-planted everything in under 24 hours, hence the chicken wire shield. Another example of function over form at Capra Lane. Her breath was killer though...

That scrap wood also collects in piles just waiting to be fuel for the season's first bonfire. Our flat patch of land provides colorful sunsets galore but we don't have much protection from wind so we have to be quite choosy when building a large fire. 

We did manage to get one field of grass hay in before the close of the month and although the yield wasn't high it helped to make the much larger alfalfa fields a bit less daunting come June.

Always looking for new ways to tire Ivy out, we thought a pool was in order. She is not a fan of the hot weather and spent many hours trying desperately to swim in 6" of water. I also caught Rog sitting in it one evening.

We did manage to get much of our garden planted by mid-May, we had a week of storms that seemed to split right over our house and allow us to get caught up a bit. 

Our strawberries thrive on complete and utter neglect - my kind of fruit! We had pretty high yields this year but many don't make it all the way to the house. I made a fatal mistake  by feeding one to Ivy the terrible and for the rest of the summer we fought her self-service attitude in every part of the garden.

I also apparently suck at planting lettuce. I can put seeds in the ground 2 weeks apart, 3 weeks apart and somehow its all ready at once. For the first time our spinach grew really well and didn't bolt or shrivel up prematurely. We tried to stretch out this crop as long as possible, knowing its trickier to grow as the hot weather sets in.

And on to June....and then I'm only behind by a quarter...